About the Brief
Government spending is where policy commitments meet reality. This brief explains what CRPD-compliant disability budget analysis reveals, why it matters, and what governments can do to close the gap between commitment and implementation. Written by CIP Senior Research Associate Meenakshi Balasubramanian.
Government spending is how policies and commitments become reality, and CRPD compliant budget analysis is the tool that shows whether that’s happening. With 191 States and the European Union having ratified the CRPD, many countries have taken measures such as legislative reforms and new programs. Tracking government allocations helps determine which commitments have translated into concrete investments. This is Policy Brief No. 3 in CIP’s Disability Policy Insights series, written by Meenakshi Balasubramanian.
Where Can You Watch and Download This Brief?
This Policy Brief No. 3 is available as a full PDF report, with an accompanying video walking through its main findings.
Why Does Budget Analysis Matter?
Budget analysis is key to ensuring the maximum utilisation of available resources under CRPD Article 4. It helps realign spending away from discriminatory practices like institutionalization toward community-based, inclusive alternatives. It reveals whether legal commitments — like access to personal assistance or sign language interpretation — have translated into real budget lines. It can shift responsibilities toward agencies with the right expertise, rather than concentrating on disability related funding in a single nodal entity regardless of mandate fit. And it exposes administrative bottlenecks that keep allocated funds from actually reaching people.
What Does the Current State of Disability Related Spending Look Like?
Analysis from 14 LMICs shows allocations to disability programs range from just 0.01% to 0.80% of GDP — far below the 1.6% average OECD countries spend on incapacity and disability benefits alone. Cash transfers dominate these budgets, representing between 18% and 96.5% of total disability related spending in countries with available data, which leaves little room for assistive devices, rehabilitation, or other essential services. In many countries, funds concentrate in a single nodal agency even when other agencies have more relevant expertise, and CRPD compliance often isn’t a factor in allocation decisions — cash transfers, for instance, frequently require proof of incapacity to work, discouraging employment. Execution is also inconsistent: India’s Department for the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities spent below the recommended 85% threshold in three of the last five years, dropping to 65% in 2020 amid COVID-19 disruptions.
How Can Governments Get Started With CRPD-Compliant Budget Analysis?
Five steps guide the process: map existing legal and policy commitments to inclusion of persons with disability; review financial data to identify relevant budget line items, even where disability isn’t explicitly labeled; estimate key statistics like the share of GDP and how it’s changed over time; map how resources flow and get executed across national and sub-national levels; and summarize findings into clear recommendations for reallocation or new investment.
What Does CIP Recommend?
Five recommendations close the brief: disaggregate administrative and financial data by impairment, gender, age, and other characteristics; make all budget data accessible to persons with print disabilities; involve persons with disabilities directly in budget planning processes; run yearly social audits to check CRPD compliance and redirect harmful spending; and diversify investment beyond cash transfers into assistive technology, rehabilitation, inclusive education, and accessible infrastructure.
